bristol



UNITED sfrarns rA'rENT OFFICE.

R. `oBRIsToL, oF CHINA, MICHIGAN.

R'IARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 11,546, dated.Auf'gust` 22, 1854.

To all LU/wm t may concern Be it known that I, RICHARD CBRIs'roL, ofChina, in the county of St.` Clair and State of `Michigan,` haveinvented certain new and -useful Improvements in Rotary Engines; andl dohereby declare the fol-` lowing to bea full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making a part thereof, in whlchs Figure l, represents aperspective view,

Fig. 2 represents a vertical longitudinal sec-` tion, Fig.`3, representsa vertical transverse section, Fig. 4, represents a longitudinal sectionthrough `one of the abutments, and

showing themannerof packing, Fig. 5, rep- .presents a longitudlnalsection through one` of the chambers, and Fig. 6, represents a detachedportion vofthe ring and one of the i ends of the case or outsidecylinder,in secp tion.

Y atmospheric pressure upon them, from causl ing too much friction.Also, in the method Similar letters where they occur refer to likeparts.

s The nature `of my invention relates to the resting of the outercylinder by lugs upon a convex bearing, with a plate interposedadjustable by set screws, or by a wedge with.- out a plate, by whichmeans the outer cylinder can bemade to conform to all possiblevariations of the shaft and inner cylinder.

Also, in driving out the slides by steam act-= ing under pistons at eachend of` them, two being drawn out in equilibrio, `while the other twoare being acted `against to pro-` Also, in using a cock lor` valve inthe exhaust pipe to be lclosed before starting the l engine, for thepurpose of illingthe engine pel.

with steam, and causing the pistons to force out the slides. Also, inthe metal rings upon the outer head being fitted over the elasticpacking, and `forced up to the ends of the` cylinder by springs, thusproviding for ex-v pansion and contraction of the metals.`

Also, in holding back the metal rings aforesaid by screws or otherwiseto prevent the of making the joint in the abutment, by which it is madeadjustable, "and perfect on.

the face ofthe inner cylinder at the end` `of the abutment and on theperiphery of the inner heads. s

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings. j

,i A, is the frame of the engine.

. j B, B, are the journal boxes (one only be- `ing seen) `for receivingthe main shaft S,

to which the revolving part of the engine is secured.4 C, is theoutsidecylinder; it is bored true-faced at the ends, and is surrounded by asteam case E, which is fur- '1" nished with lugs F, F, upon which it issupported on the frame. `The side railsv of the frame A, are convex, andupon `them are placed the supportingplates a, which are made adjustableby set screws therein, or

by wedgesfunderneath them, and upon these plates, the lugs F, rest, andthe outer cylin-` der is thusI `made adjustable, so as to conform to allpossible variations of the shaft and inner cylinder. By examination `itwill be found that this" adjustment varies essentially from that ofJames McKay., patented in 1853. McKay supports his outercylinder uponaxes at right" angles, and `on a plane` with the main shaft, which willonly 1 allow it to move up or down at theends, las

the shaft may do; whereas by my plan, it will allow the cylinder to movein any direction-the ends may go up, down or laterally, the height beingreadily adjusted by i the set screws and plates under the lugs, whichlugs may be on a plane with the shaft, `above or below it as maybe foundmost convenient. 1 j

The double steam case E, has passages b 7J Figs. 2, 3,4, 5, bothencircling the cylinder, but independent of each other, the formercommunicating with the interior of the cylinder through `openings c cand d d,

Fig. 3, and the` latter (b) communicating with the same by openings c 0and d d" (same figure). Onl top of the outer cylinder is the steam chestGr, which may be supplied with steam from the boiler, through the pipeJ. K, is the exhaust pipe, to re- P0rut f, (Figs 2, 3 N, NQN, Nff, arefour sliding pistons. They are" set in the slots, t', c', c', of theceive the whole steam through theexhaust steam wheel, which is composedof a cylinu der D, having a hub g, secured on the shaft S. In McKayspatent, before referred to, the slides or wingsare forced out by lettingsteam under them while there is no steam operating upon the engine. Iforce them out by steam under pistons at each end of two ofthe sliders,while the other two sliders are doing their work in propelling theshaft. The cylinder C, being stationary, and the vao steam acting insideof it on lthe sliders, it moves the wheel co-mposed of the cylinder D,hub g, and shaft S, with theirv various parts, which form the rotatingparts of the engine. Then the engine is running in one direction, ittakes its steam by only one of the slide valve ports, and is shown inFig.

2, to be taking the steam through the pasa sage e. When moving in acontrary direction it takes its steam by the passage e', where it is nowshown exhausting thevsteam through the cavity of the slide valve H, andthrough the exhaust port f, into pipe K. The slide valve G, iS forreversing the motion o-f the engine which may be moved by a rod andlever in the well known way of performing this operation,.and is likethose in common use.

R, R, are two fixed abutments attached to the stationary cylinder C.rlhese abutments have concave flan-ges fw, w, branching from theirapices, and have packingbars m, m, which are adjustable by screws p, p,to press them steam tight against the rotary cylinder.-

'In Figgf, one of the packing bars m, with its adjusting screws isdistinctly seen. The bar has a lap joint m, near the center, andinclined planes y y at its ends. Upon the inner ends of the adjustingscrews p p, are two followers e, e, which have one straight andk oneinclined side-the latter resting against the inclined planes on the endsof .the bar, so that by turning the screws 7J, p, said bar may bebrought up steam tight against the rotating cylinder. The bar m', andset screws 20 p, are for controlling the bar m in the other direction.There are small flanges 2, 2, on the extreme ends of the bar m, whichcover the oint 3, and rest against the packing il, which is alsoadljustable from t-he outside of the cylinder by the screws 5, so thatthe packing bar m, extends entirely through the cylinder and isadjustable from the outside, and makes aperfect steam point throughoutits entire length. The engine is represented as receiving the steamthrough the ports c 0, on both sides of the engine, the one at the righthand side (Fig. 3) on the upper side of the abutment, and at the otherside beneath the abutment7 causing the engine to rotate in the directionof the arrow. The steam exhausts at. the right hand side through theports below the abutment, and on the left hand side above the abutments.When theengine is moving in a contrary direction, the present steampassages become the exhaust passages. The slides N, N', N, N, by thisarrangement of the steam and exhaust ports, are relieved o-f all thesteam pressure when passing the abutments, so that there is very littlefriction upon them. In other rotary engines the chambers u, u, u, u, inboth ends of the engine. The ends of thesliders have projections outsideof the ends of D, these are connected to small pistons in the chamber uu, which small pistons are actuated by steam in the chambers at the endsof the cylinder. The steam from the small pistons is exhausted before aslider comes to an abutment, but co-mmences to press out the slider whenit passes an abutment. These sliders work free in their recesses t 2',in the arms h, it, but are always pressed steam tight and allow nosteamto pass them. l

M,L M, are the inside cylinder heads, in which there are slots for theprojections of sliders,v which slots serve as guards andbearings for theends of sarid sliders. O, O, are other cylinder heads, secured'by boltso, o, and fitting close to M, M, but have flanges P, P, all around theouter side.

Q, Q, are metallic packing rings, corresponding lwith the size of theinterior of the outer cylinder, and fitting closely over the inner headsM M. Under t-hese packing rings, there is an elastic packing 6, Fig. 2,and back of them are springs 7 Fig. 6, for the purpose of providing' forthe expansion and contraction of the metals, and the` metal rings are inturn held back by screws 8 or otherwise to prevent the atmosphericpressure upon them, from causing too much friction.

L, in Fig. l, represents4 a stop. cock or valve in the exhaust pipe,which must be closed previous to the starting of t-he engine, for thepurpose ofiilling the engine with steam, and causing the pistons toforce out the slides. VVitho-ut this ora similar contrivance the steamwould blow through the engine without affecting any of the moving partsor bringing them into action. Upon closing this valve and admitting thesteam, the slides are immediately thrown out, by the action of the steamunder or behind t-he pistons, then by opening the valve the engine isready to run.

The metal rings Q, Q, Figs. l, 2, 6, are fitted to t-he outer heads O,of the cylinder,

and have underneath them elastic packing free running of the engine. Tocounteract such effect, the metal rings are held back, or in any fixedposition by means of the screws 8, passing through the outer head andinto the packing rings, and thus a tight joint is made, which shall nothowever have any unnecessary pressure or friction upon it other than isincident to making it tight.

I-Iaving thus fully described the nature of `my invention what I claimtherein as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The restingof the outer cylinder by lugs, upon a convex bearing, with a plateinterposed and made adjustable, by `set screws, or by wedges, for thepurpose of adjusting the outer cylinder, to any and all possiblevariations of the shaft and inner cylinder, substantially as described.

2. I also claim driving out the slides by steam acting under pist-ons ateach end of them--two being drawn out in equilibrio, while the other twoare being actedv against to propel the engine, substantially asdescribed.

3. I also claim using a cock or valve in the exhaust pipe, to be closedbefore starting the engine, for the purpose of filling the engine withsteam, and causing the pistons to force out the slides, which fall backupon stopping the engine, substantially as described.

4L. I also claim the metal rings upon the outer head, fitted overelastic packing, and forced up t-o the ends of the cylinder by springs,`tor providing for the expansion and contraction of the metals as setforth.

5. I also claim in combination with the rings thus forced up the use ofset screws for restraining the action of such springs, and preventingthe atmosphere from causing undue pressure or friction on said rings.

6. I also claim the peculiar method of making the joint in the abutment,so as to be adjustable and perfect on the face of the inner cylinder atthe end of thevabutment, and on the periphery of the inner heads,substantially as described.

. R. C. BRISTOL.

Witnesses:

J. P..WooDBURY, I. S. CLARK.

